The global economy took another turn for the worse as Japan plunged into recession following two consecutive quarters of growth.

Please consider Japan’s economy shrinks annualized 3.5%.

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Japan’s economy shrank an annualised 3.5 per cent between July and September, the steepest decline since the earthquake-hit first quarter of 2011, as exporters suffered big falls in shipments to key markets such as China and Europe.

In a speech on Monday, Masaaki Shirakawa, Bank of Japan governor, said there was “no question that the [central bank] should exert every effort to enhance its easing effects as much as possible”. He said domestic demand was “unlikely to increase at a pace that will outperform the weakness in exports”.

The Japanese government’s monthly survey of “economy watchers” – which includes barbers, hoteliers, car dealers and others who deal with consumers – has recorded six falls in a row since April. Last month the index stood at a level little better than that of April 2011, in the immediate aftermath of the quake.

Japanese manufacturers from Nissan to Shiseido have reported steep falls in sales of their products in China, following a wave of demonstrations against Tokyo’s nationalisation of some of the islands in mid-September.

Japan’s top seven automakers have cut their projections for Chinese sales by a fifth, for the fiscal year to March, according to calculations by the Nikkei newspaper.

Joe Salerno, in "Gold Standards: True and False," provides some sound guidance on discussion of a return to gold. What is ultimately desired is a return to a market-chosen money, which has historically been a commodity — gold or silver money, not a gold- or silver-"backed" money. Salerno's caution continues to be relevant. He argues,

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A significant development in the current controversy over the role of gold in the U.S. monetary system, which has potentially important implications for both monetary theory and policy, has gone largely unnoticed by commentators on both sides of the debate. I am referring to the emergence of a new defense of gold that differs fundamentally from the traditional case for the gold standard. This development has been obscured by the diversity of plans for monetary reform coming out of the pro-gold camp. A close examination of these proposals, however, reveals that they are of two distinct types; they differ not only in the reasons they offer for considering a gold standard desirable, but also in their conception of what monetary arrangements constitute a "gold standard."

First, there are the proposals that embody the traditional "hard money" arguments for the gold standard. These arguments focus on the desirability of a free-market commodity money vis-à-vis a government-monopolized paper fiat money. The basic thrust of the hard money proposals is to render government monetary policy superfluous by restoring a genuine gold standard under which the quantity and value of money is determined solely by market forces. The second group of pro-gold writers, whose proposals have received the most publicity, have eschewed the traditional hard-money case for gold and in its stead constructed a quite novel case purporting to demonstrate that gold can provide government monetary authorities with an effective instrument for managing the money-supply process within the established fiat-money framework. For this group, the raison d'être of a gold-based monetary regime is that it facilitates the achievement of government monetary policy objectives. Needless to say, the gold standard envisioned by these policy-oriented advocates differs quite radically from the ideal of the hard-money group. The gold "price rule," which is the monetary reform favored by most policy-oriented gold advocates, bears only a superficial resemblance to the traditional conception of the gold standard. (emphasis added)

Good thing that came after 2 quarters of economic growth or they may be in trouble. Not that China's boycott is anything to scoff at, but this is one of those times where I suffer from the American, "I don't give a shit" syndrome. Keep pumping out video games and porn and we don't care how bad your economy is. We'll still buy those two things.

__________________''i'm a bi dude!!! take me up the arse while i stick my tongue inside dolf!!!1''

Good thing that came after 2 quarters of economic growth or they may be in trouble. Not that China's boycott is anything to scoff at, but this is one of those times where I suffer from the American, "I don't give a shit" syndrome. Keep pumping out video games and porn and we don't care how bad your economy is. We'll still buy those two things.

At the same time, in the other thread, you are arguing for devastating economic reforms to the agricultural industry in the name of "getting our food right."

Perhaps the problem might be too many altruistic crusaders who do give a shit about their various social causes, like controlling what people eat through taxation, regulation, and a return to a more primitive, communal lifestyle...

One of the most common reasons why fortune can turn into misfortune is that the long-term consequences of the apparent good luck are very expensive. This idea is embodied in a chess concept of the “poisoned pawn,” where you are offered a free pawn in exchange for creating a fatal flaw in your position. It’s an experience many American students know about.

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If student loans are good debt, how do you account for the reaction of Christina Mills, 30, of Minneapolis, when she found out her payment on college and law school loans would be $1,400 a month? “I just went into the car and started sobbing,” says Mills, who works for a nonprofit. “It was more than my paycheck at the time.” Medical student Thomas Smith, 25, of Hamilton, N.J., is $310,000 in debt and is struggling to make ends meet even before beginning to repay his loans. “I don’t even know what I eat,” he says. “I just go to the supermarket and buy the cheapest thing I can and buy as much of it as I can.” Then there’s Michael DiPietro, 25, of Brooklyn, who accumulated about $100,000 in debt while getting a bachelor’s degree in fashion, sculpture, and performance, and spent the next two years waiting tables. He has since landed a fundraising job in the arts but still has no idea how he will pay back all that money. “I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s an obsolete idea that a college education is like your golden ticket,” DiPietro says. “It’s an idea that an older generation holds on to.”

At the same time, in the other thread, you are arguing for devastating economic reforms to the agricultural industry in the name of "getting our food right."

Perhaps the problem might be too many altruistic crusaders who do give a shit about their various social causes, like controlling what people eat through taxation, regulation, and a return to a more primitive, communal lifestyle...

You don't understand any more about international economics then you do about agriculture. This isn't about a gold standard, it's about a boycott from one of their biggest buyers. It's not really worth it to talk to you, because you're incapable of seeing anything. Yes, we need to feed people. Japan's not our problem. And they're cool. Their economy isn't perfect, but it's not devastated. Jesus Christ, look at the world around you. The amount of stupidity that you inflict is crippling sometimes.

__________________''i'm a bi dude!!! take me up the arse while i stick my tongue inside dolf!!!1''

At the same time, in the other thread, you are arguing for devastating economic reforms to the agricultural industry in the name of "getting our food right."

Perhaps the problem might be too many altruistic crusaders who do give a shit about their various social causes, like controlling what people eat through taxation, regulation, and a return to a more primitive, communal lifestyle...

Nothing wrong with that. I still can't believe the majority of Californians voted against knowing what the hell big companies are putting into their food. Like one of the only things liberalism usually stands for that is actually a good thing and it lost???

You don't understand any more about international economics then you do about agriculture. This isn't about a gold standard, it's about a boycott from one of their biggest buyers. It's not really worth it to talk to you, because you're incapable of seeing anything. Yes, we need to feed people. Japan's not our problem. And they're cool. Their economy isn't perfect, but it's not devastated. Jesus Christ, look at the world around you. The amount of stupidity that you inflict is crippling sometimes.

You claim to be some loser from a trailer in Kentucky and yet you know everything there is about global economics?

More stupid Brooklyn people: Then there’s Michael DiPietro, 25, of Brooklyn, who accumulated about $100,000 in debt while getting a bachelor’s degree in fashion, sculpture, and performance, and spent the next two years waiting tables. He has since landed a fundraising job in the arts but still has no idea how he will pay back all that money. “I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s an obsolete idea that a college education is like your golden ticket,” DiPietro says. “It’s an idea that an older generation holds on to.”

You don't understand any more about international economics then you do about agriculture. This isn't about a gold standard, it's about a boycott from one of their biggest buyers. It's not really worth it to talk to you, because you're incapable of seeing anything. Yes, we need to feed people. Japan's not our problem. And they're cool. Their economy isn't perfect, but it's not devastated. Jesus Christ, look at the world around you. The amount of stupidity that you inflict is crippling sometimes.

There is no such fucking thing as "International Economics."

I am old enough remember not just the panic that Japan was going to buy us out but also when plastics used to be synonymous with "cheap" and "Made in Japan."

I hardly think that you are in the position to get all pissy and begin handing out labels.

More stupid Brooklyn people: Then there’s Michael DiPietro, 25, of Brooklyn, who accumulated about $100,000 in debt while getting a bachelor’s degree in fashion, sculpture, and performance, and spent the next two years waiting tables. He has since landed a fundraising job in the arts but still has no idea how he will pay back all that money. “I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s an obsolete idea that a college education is like your golden ticket,” DiPietro says. “It’s an idea that an older generation holds on to.”

Did he think there were, like, a ton of jobs in that field?

I will bet that that never crossed his mind as he took advantage of his "right" to an education.

What really pisses me completely off about The Peoples Democratic Republic of Kalafornia.... All those fuckers voted for this ruination of that state... Now like fucking vermin....there leaving in droves. Only to land in some nice quiet burg....where they will set a course to fuck that town, county and state UP. If you move from PDRK.... Leave your Marxism at the state line.... else wise.... You voted for it....YOU SUFFER WITH IT. Prop30, step 4 to Barry'O' bail-out.

One lining for it.... With Barry'O' Goose stepping back into the Why Howz.... All but those bitter-clinger states could be PDRK lite.

__________________An Armed man is a citizen. A disarmed man lives in Kalafornia, Chicago, New York, Colorado....

I've interviewed thousands of people and read ten times as many resumes over the years, and I came to the conclusion a long time ago that too many people were going to college. They had access to what will turn out to be free taxpayer money to attend schools that wouldn't exist if it weren't for student loans. These 3rd and 4th tier colleges have no academic standards as long as their students can fork over their tuition. They hand out meaningless degrees and turn out graduates like a sausage factory. Too many of these people can't read, can't spell, or have poor communication skills which automatically disqualify them from the fields they were pursuing in college. It's nothing more than a scam.

I've interviewed thousands of people and read ten times as many resumes over the years, and I came to the conclusion a long time ago that too many people were going to college. They had access to what will turn out to be free taxpayer money to attend schools that wouldn't exist if it weren't for student loans. These 3rd and 4th tier colleges have no academic standards as long as their students can fork over their tuition. They hand out meaningless degrees and turn out graduates like a sausage factory. Too many of these people can't read, can't spell, or have poor communication skills which automatically disqualify them from the fields they were pursuing in college. It's nothing more than a scam.

I've interviewed thousands of people and read ten times as many resumes over the years, and I came to the conclusion a long time ago that too many people were going to college. They had access to what will turn out to be free taxpayer money to attend schools that wouldn't exist if it weren't for student loans. These 3rd and 4th tier colleges have no academic standards as long as their students can fork over their tuition. They hand out meaningless degrees and turn out graduates like a sausage factory. Too many of these people can't read, can't spell, or have poor communication skills which automatically disqualify them from the fields they were pursuing in college. It's nothing more than a scam.

In how many threads have I railed about the same theme you're presenting here?

Those colleges have had to dumb down the curricula in order to take advantage of all that 'free' money the government was handing out. And as the student ranks swelled they merely followed the laws of supply and demand and raised their tuition's. And people sit around and grouse about the results as shown in the examples above. It's easy for the nay-Sayers to point to those examples as the exceptions, mere anecdotal fluff thrown around to make a point. Unfortunately those 'anecdotal' stories are proving to be the rule and the success stories are the exceptions.

The entire premise of government subsidized higher education is built on the success of the post WWII GI bill. Which was an unqualified success due in part to two particular aspects of the bill. The first being that it was NOT open to everyone and the second being that the colleges did not adjust their standards downwards to try to capture the 'windfall profits' associated with the program. (Nor did they immediately ramp up courses in fringe degree programs, which few, if any, served any legitimate societal need.)

The entire model is as bad as the Social Security model, a snake swallowing it's own tail with the student becoming mere fodder for the system. Young people spending valuable working years studying some specialty in which they will never be gainfully employed.

Compounding all of this is the fact that the so much value is placed on this 'higher education' that the colleges are quickly becoming mere 'finishing schools' for the public education sector. Students are having to spend their first semester, and in some cases their first year, taking college courses that are essentially teaching what they should have learned in High School. And High School diplomas have become nothing more than really bad jokes.

And education is but one of the many 'causes' that the liberal continually offers up the same solution......"more money." If it were merely a matter of money most of our social ills would have disappeared long ago.

Ishmael

__________________
“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.” ― Alexis de Tocqueville

I've interviewed thousands of people and read ten times as many resumes over the years, and I came to the conclusion a long time ago that too many people were going to college. They had access to what will turn out to be free taxpayer money to attend schools that wouldn't exist if it weren't for student loans. These 3rd and 4th tier colleges have no academic standards as long as their students can fork over their tuition. They hand out meaningless degrees and turn out graduates like a sausage factory. Too many of these people can't read, can't spell, or have poor communication skills which automatically disqualify them from the fields they were pursuing in college. It's nothing more than a scam.

when I first started teaching in College

I actually believed that MOST were not equipped to attend and do so JUST FOR THE GIVEAWAYS

Indeed, they stayed as long as teh handouts lasted

and if you were BLACK and LATINO.....in NY....you would see people in the 30's and early 40's STILL in school, no major, collecting monthly checks

Location: Don't let the sun burn a hole in your ass, William Blake: rise now, and drive your cart and plow over the bones of the dead!

Posts: 71,876

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Originally Posted by renard_ruse

Nothing wrong with that. I still can't believe the majority of Californians voted against knowing what the hell big companies are putting into their food. Like one of the only things liberalism usually stands for that is actually a good thing and it lost???